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Saturday, October 1, 2016

More on Stork Suicide/Murder (??)

It is fascinating to see how people in Kerrville have reacted to the Gary and Peggy Stork murder-suicide (??) case. It seems that a substantial number of people think Gary was a wonderful person and are stumbling over each other to sing his praises. I am truly baffled at this - he had been accused of sexual contact with a child and Scott Monroe was to present the case to the 198th District Court grand jury last Monday. That presentation was cancelled after Stork and his wife Peggy were both found dead, each with a gunshot to the head.

Friday, over 800 people attended a memorial service at the Cailloux theatre. The city closed its offices so employees could attend. Hill Country Community Journal has a good summary of the event, captioned Pastor: 'Leave the judgement to God'

Greg Cummings, senior minister at Kerrville Church of Christ, had a simple message at Friday’s memorial service for Kerrville City Councilman Gary Stork and his wife, Peggy.
“We are not here to judge Peggy and Gary,” Cummings said at the memorial service. “God will do that. Our friends are being tried in the public opinion and in the media. Let’s leave the judgment to God.”

Pastor Cummings added: "... without the forensic answers to what actually happened in the Storks home that led to their deaths, people can believe one of only three options....You can believe that the case is a murder-suicide; You can believe they chose a mutual suicide and wanted to die together; Or you can choose to believe that they were both victims of a homicide."
He's right, and that's why I believe this case needs to be investigated by an outside agency like the Texas Rangers or preferably the FBI. The Rangers will only investigate if requested by the district attorney.

Some of the comments I've seen on Facebook are interesting. I posted a couple, basically saying what I've been saying on this blog, that is, why are so many people carrying on what a great guy good ol' Gary was, nevermind that little blemish of a child molesting charge or that he may have murdered his wife.

For example, here's a comment from someone, we'll call her Susie, I thought was a friend:
"So....you are privy to police facts?? Wow. None of us are. You must get some sort of thrill out of spouting venom. I remember a few times where you actually acted like a defense attorney and wentto bat for a client that was "allegedly" accused of a crime. Innocent until proven guilty is all part of the American Justice system. I guess the Bonnie and Robert White flunkies have their own investigators and obviously attorneys in their pockets! Shame on you. Disgusting!

First off, a defendant is not "allegedly charged with a crime." He either is or isn't accused.

Second, I have to confess that sometimes I've been guilty of rushing to judgment. I have prejudged many people who may have been innocent and decent upstanding citizens - Charles Manson and O.J. Simpson come to mind.

As for the concept "innocent until proven guilty" - that is a legal fiction. It does not mean factually innocent. It means that a jury is instructed to presume a defendant is innocent until all the evidence is in, then decide if the State has proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. The jury is asked one question: do you find Defendant is guilty or not guilty. Not guilty does not mean innocent. That's why defense lawyers don't argue innocence - to do so would be to take on an unnecessary burden.

If I am retained or appointed to defend someone, it is my duty under the Constitution to provide him or her with effective assistance of counsel, whether I think they're guilty or innocent. I no longer talk to the press about criminal cases I'm handling, and rarely discuss other criminal cases because I might later get appointed or asked to defend the person. But being a criminal defense lawyer does not deprive me of the right to my own opinions or my First Amendment right to express them.
Another FB member, we'll call him Bob, wrote: "Richard you are a angry man, i use that term lightly, get some help Son, i will pray to the baby Jesus for you." Aside from the almost illiterate grammar, this sounds vaguely mocking of Christianity.

I think after this I'll take a break from blogging - this Stork thing has just stirred up too much nuttiness.

I didn't realize the discussion would end if richard stopped blogging...you could be your own voice and if a citizen of Kerrville, go to the council meeting and speak your thoughts and request for answers...Request information under the PIA... you can go to the through many city and state chamnels to make it known that you want to make sure the investigations on all aspects are being done and handled as in depth as the law allows! Trust when I say, conversations, opinions that led to actions are being done by all sides of this unfortunately severely split and heavily opinionated town ...I check myself often and take very long pauses before I do or say my part in order to make sure I too am not doing it for personal and selfish reasons...I fall sometimes and insert foot when I do and out myself to others when wrong... I do not ever want to be closed off to learning something bigger than what selfishly staying inside of my medium sized box in a world of never ending knowledge ...open to hear others and when I ask how your day is, I truly listen for your response vs just waiting for the "standard" reply so as to tell you about my day...reply back your thoughts and what do you know ...we will be keeping a conversation going...

Richard, the comment (not published) which discusses the local culture defining themselves with the flag and cross was intended as satire. There is an incredible duality in Kerrville, wherein folks wear religion and patriotism on their sleeve, but are in reality, hypocrites. The subject satire was intended to highlight the hypocrisy. I am concerned you took this seriously and were alarmed.

In the UK we've recently seen false accusations of sexual assaults on children made against the singer Cliff Richard and against Field Marshal Lord Brammal, former chief of the defence staff. It's my understanding that the whole point of presenting a charge to a Grand Jury is for them to decide whether the case is worth proceeding with or not, which in England and Wales is something done by the Crown Prosecution Service and the Director of Public Prosecutions.

So the charge had not yet been examined to see if there was enough evidence to go for a trial.

There are indeed three possibilities with the shooting of the Storks, and the third, murder of them both by persons unknown, cannot be ruled out without some actual forensic work, because in the circumstances with serious accusations being made, someone might have been motivated to murder them.

Thank you for stating this..problem is autopsies generally do not ever detect when , Forced Suicide /Forced Murder - Suicide is as well a 4th and 5th possibility! Texas Rangers and FBI should be involved!

But why would someone hate Stork so much they would do all this to him? This is Kerrville. It is as important as a child's sandcastle. Sure there's a little money at stake in this town, but where is the money in this case? As disgusting as it is to ask -- who was the victim of the sexual assault? What could possibly have happened that makes anything other than the face value account make sense? Is it so hard to believe a man with no children in the house would do this? If his wife was the gunner, how unlikely is it that a woman would do this? If it was the third option -- a homicide -- who was pulling the trigger? Who in this town has the wherewithal to hire a hitman outside of drug cartels?

I see a lot of questions, which are well-founded but unfortunately more vague yet truthful indictments of the local people. No answers. I would at least accept a conspiracy theory if anybody had one. My stance is far from foolish, I think, when there is zero evidence of anything other than the following:

Gary Stork was a crazy asshole pervert and after it caught up with him, he had one move left. The Grand Jury was the end of his string. After he ended it, the sheltered, simple locals tried to get through it with their security blankets. Give the man a (quick) Christian burial, stick him and his wife in the ground and thank the Lord that they didn't have to deeply examine any complex beliefs about law and morality.

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Any other explanations, I'd love to hear it even if it is wild speculation. I don't like conspiracy theories, but I hate innuendo just as much. I suspect the blogmaster knows exactly what he thinks happened, but knows better than to say it.

About Me

I was born and raised in the South, and lived over 15 years in Louisiana, including Gretna (across the river from NOLA), Hammond, Baton Rouge and for a short time in New Iberia. My dad worked in the oil industry, including the offshore business.
I graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 1980 and have been a trial lawyer for 34 years. I'm board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in practice in Personal injury Trial Law, Civil Trial Law, and Criminal Law. I am the only board certified criminal defense lawyer in Kerrvile. I serve clients throughout the Texas Hill Country. Visit my new law firm website www.richellison.com